Jessica Smock's Blog

by Amie Newman When I am 22 years old it’s an adventure: the two of us live in an old school bus with no bathroom, on a river crowded with crawdads, in rural North Carolina. We break up shortly afterward, but not before hopping a plane to Greece, sleeping on the deck of a boat […]

The post Driving While Grieving appeared first on The HerStories Project.

 “I’ve just made the biggest mistake of my life.” My best friend sobs on the other end of the phone. Over two weeks back from her honeymoon, and this is our first check-in, our longest conversational drought in years. Well, until now. I look back from midlife and wonder if I left her too long, […]

The post The Friend Who Got Away appeared first on The HerStories Project.

I’m lying on the living room floor, talking into the phone while chewing on my hair, just like I used to in high school. Occasionally I cackle and roll over. My voice drops as we conspire. My best friend of thirty years is on the other end of the line. My husband glances at me […]

The post To Middle Age and Beyond appeared first on The HerStories Project.

If you are lucky, you will have a friend in your life who will listen to you go on and on about your complicated marriage, who will sit patiently and nonjudgmentally as you spin in the same circle, like a cat chasing its tail, for ten years. She will discuss it with you over dinner […]

The post Friends Like These appeared first on The HerStories Project.

A blue-walled loft bedroom in an old church converted into condos. A wide leather couch, piled with blankets, in a cramped but comfortable house. A two-level, wood-floored apartment filled with abstract art, dried rose petals, and light. And a cozy guest room in a college town that I still think of as home. Most friendships […]

The post Space To Imagine appeared first on The HerStories Project.

I met Alia on an app for moms called Peanut in January of 2020. I’d never had the chance to date online, and at first, I was paralyzed by the sight of each woman’s face, unsure of whether to swipe right or swipe left. But quickly, I became accustomed to that split second of judgment, […]

The post Alia appeared first on The HerStories Project.

I’m not a great friend. I know this about me. I should come with a warning label to all the new people in my life. Befriend me at your own risk!  I often can’t go out to dinner, to the movies, or the concert that everyone else has tickets to. On those rare occasions I […]

The post Friendship Wanted appeared first on The HerStories Project.

My mom didn’t do book club. She didn’t work outside the home. She didn’t volunteer. She didn’t play tennis or golf. She talked on the phone. All day, every day. The long cord wrapped around her legs, head tilted towards her shoulder to hold the phone in place while she peeled carrots and ironed my […]

The post On Hold appeared first on The HerStories Project.

After the thunderstorm, Colleen and I sat on her porch on her 41st birthday, nursing warm beers. Cool air cut through what had been a streak of cloying days. Trees shot skyward, leaves jeweled in water and sunlight, reminding me in June 2021 of those I’d stared at for hours nearly 26 years earlier while […]

The post Sure Footing appeared first on The HerStories Project.

I forgot the word “palindrome” yesterday.  It slipped out of my vocabulary for a couple of hours, as if to go get a coffee or take a nap. I was on a hike with a friend, marching through the woods, talking about the gifts and betrayals of aging, catching glimpses of grouse and bunnies and […]

The post Palindrome appeared first on The HerStories Project.